Claude W. Austin

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Claude W. Austin, First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action south of Dun- sur-Meuse, France, October 5, 1918. On the evening of October 5, a shell struck an old building in front of a dugout occupied by one of Lieutenant Austin’s machine-gun teams, wounding two of the men who were just coming out, and hurling them to the bottom of the steps. Fire from the building spread to the framework of the dugout, which contained a quantity of grenades and high explosives. Lieutenant Austin unhesitatingly ran to the rescue of the two men and dragged them out, one at a time, but they died a short time later. He then entered the dugout, bringing out five unwounded men, undoubtedly saving their lives, for the dugout was totally destroyed a short time later. The entire exploit was carried on under sniping fire from across the river, as well as machine-gun and artillery fire from three sides of the salient.